The Ducks' Cam Fowler defends against the Stars' Tyler Seguin during the first period of Game 4 in Dallas on Wednesday. TONY GUTIERREZ, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

DALLAS -- Ryan Getzlaf will not play for the Ducks in Game 4 of the Western Conference quarterfinal series against Dallas due to an undisclosed upper-body injury, leaving the club with a big hole to fill Wednesday night.

A Ducks spokesman said Getzlaf and the team's doctors agreed that the injury was enough to rule him out. He is considered day to day, but it also puts into question his availability for Game 5 back in Anaheim as the Ducks hold a 2-1 series lead.

Likely a finalist for the Hart Trophy awarded to the NHL's most valuable player, Getzlaf has two goals and four points in the first three games to lead the Ducks. He was playing with a partial cage due after being struck in the face by a slap shot near the end of Game 1.

It isn't clear if the injury is the result of scrums that Getzlaf got into with the Stars' Trevor Daley and Antoine Roussel in Game 3 where he exchanged punches with both. Getzlaf and Ducks coach Bruce Boudreau were angry as they felt the two were targeting his protected jaw.

Rookie Rickard Rakell will make his NHL playoff debut while center Nick Bonino, Saku Koivu and Mathieu Perreault will move up in the lineup for Game 4. Rakell said he was excited to play on a line with Emerson Etem and Devante Smith-Pelly.

"It’s what I’m working for every day," Rakell said. "I just got to make sure that I’m ready. I know what I can do. I know what my linemates can do. I think we're just going to go out and enjoy the moments. Play our best game ever."

Earlier in the day, the Ducks scratched franchise icon Teemu Selanne for Game 4. Selanne said it is only the second time he has been benched for a playoff game with the other occurring in 2004 while playing for Colorado.

The move by Ducks coach Bruce Boudreau didn't sit well with Teemu's eldest son, Eemil, who took to Twitter to voice his disapproval.

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